Female teachers effect on male pupils' voting behavior and preference formation

TL;DR

This study investigates how early exposure to female teachers influences male pupils' later voting choices and preferences for women's workplace participation, supporting the female socialization hypothesis.

Contribution

It provides new evidence that female teachers in early education affect male students' political and social preferences in adulthood.

Findings

Male pupils with female teachers are more likely to vote for female candidates.

They also prefer policies supporting female labor participation.

No significant effect observed among female pupils.

Abstract

This study examines the influence of learning in a female teacher homeroom class in elementary school on pupils' voting behavior later in life, using independently collected individual-level data. Further, we evaluate its effect on preference for women's participation in the workplace in adulthood. Our study found that having a female teacher in the first year of school makes individuals more likely to vote for female candidates, and to prefer policy for female labor participation in adulthood. However, the effect is only observed among males, and not female pupils. These findings offer new evidence for the female socialization hypothesis.